Red drum has become one of my favorite fish. It is offered at Yellow Umbrella in Richmond, VA. These tacos are loaded with fresh fruit and vegetables which have plenty of nutrients including iron, vitamin C, potassium, vitamin A, Vitamin B-6, folate, and niacin. This is a easy dish to prepare for dinner and kids will love it!

Ingredients:

1 pound Red Drum (I buy mine from Yellow Umbrella

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 lemon

Jalepeno – 1/4 chopped

Garlic – 2 cloves

Onion – 1/4 chopped

Spinach – 1 cup

Corn or whole wheat or gluten free tortillas

Pour the olive oil over the red drum. Squeeze the juice from the lemon on the fish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until fish is flaky.

Saute onion, garlic and jalepeno. Add spinach and put to the side.

Place 4 oz. of the fish on the tortilla. Add the spinach saute. Top with the mango salasa.

Mango Salsa

1 mango chopped

1 jalapeno chopped

1/4 cup onion chopped

3 garlic cloves chopped

1 cup cilantro chopped

1 lime

Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and squeeze with lime. Allow to be refrigerated for about an hour.

I love tuna salad without the mayonnaise! Whether fresh or Wild Planet’s pole caught tuna it’s a great source of protein to add to any salad. The colorful vegetables are a rainbow of phytonutrients and in the summer you can find everything local and fresh. With this recipe I added forbidden rice that has a purple black color and is rich in iron and high in fiber and antioxidant nutrients. It also includes protein! Enjoy this salad packed full of antioxidant nutrients and about 7-8 grams of fiber.

Ingredients:

4 cups spring herb mix

2 cups Arugula

1 red pepper chopped

1 orange pepper chopped

1 yellow carrot chopped

1/2 red onion sliced very thin

3 radishes chopped

8 oz. tuna (or I use two cans of Wild Planet Albacore tuna)

1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

2/3 cup Black forbidden rice cooked

Dressing:

1/4 cup sunflower oil

2 tablespoons For Pete’s Sake Honey mustard

1/8 cup water

1 lemon squeezed

Mix dressing in a jar and refrigerate until you are ready to use.

Add tuna to a bowl and all vegetables. Top with toasted pumpkin seeds and dressing!

It’s the time of year where you want something quick, refreshing and satisfying. I combined dark cherries with Fit Food Complete and coconut milk with a added boost of quercetin to help with seasonal allergies. Why call it Cardiometabolic? It has the perfect balance of protein, carbohydrate and fat along with fiber to help stabilize the blood sugar and to make it heart healthy!

Quercetin became a popular and widely used remedy for sinus congestion, sneezing, and the pollen season. I have been using it daily and so far sneezing, nasal congestion and headaches have been low!

For the next two weeks (April 23rd-May 6th) we will be offering 10% off of Fit Food Complete. When you come into the office or call please mention it and we will gladly apply the discount!

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh spinach

2 scoops Fit Food Complete

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1/4 tsp. Quercetin (I use Designs for Health)

12 frozen cherries

Add coconut milk with 1/2 cup water to your blender. Add 1 cup fresh spinach and the quercetin and blend on high. Add protein powder and cherries and blend until you have a creamy smoothie.

We suppose Panera’s awesome chicken salad might have made us a bit biased when it comes to other restaurant options. Okay, really biased. That’s probably all it is. Right?

Or is Subway hiding behind their cleverly executed marketing, which has convinced us all they’re the healthiest fast food option?

Today’s lunch review is not a happy one. As Tina searches through Subway’s online menu, seeking the perfect healthy option to review for you, dear reader, in an effort to make your lunch-on-the-go selections healthier, she finally lands on their Turkey Breast Salad. She nods approvingly. “I would rather have the Double Chicken Chopped Salad,” she says, “but we should try something new.”

Stephanie meets plenty of friendly service and even friendlier smells at the local Subway, and walks away happy with the experience. But when Tina takes a bite, she knows right away something is wrong.

First off, where’s the turkey? It was almost a hopeless task, Tina digging through her salad to find any shreds of meat she could to weigh. (Yes, we weighed it. Don’t you want a thorough review?)

Voilà! Here it is. After minutes and minutes of agonized sifting: an ounce and a half of turkey. It’s precisely the amount they promised, but not exactly the delicious juicy turkey breast we dreamed of. Tina tosses it back into her salad and starts in on her lunch. “I don’t know if it’s the most delicious salad I’ve had, but it’s an okay option,” she decides.

This picture is after Tina found the turkey hidden beneath the lettuce and veggies.

It looks as though we’re facing a mundane C+ sort of review for this salad. But things get exciting when Tina comes across Subway’s page of Product Ingredients. This is different from nutrition facts; here we see more into the details of each ingredient and food item they offer.

Suffice it to say Tina’s salad went untouched after she read this page.

Tina’s discovery at Subway has encouraged her to pen a more thorough, coherent article than we can offer now about what preservatives and additives can do to the body, and why we should all avoid them. For now, we can only mention the horror at realizing Subway injects their hot peppers with Yellow Dye #5 (why?! Fresh peppers?!), and their meats have way too many ingredients that are not meat. Sodium, fats, carbs, sugar and the like should be considered when selecting a restaurant meal, but additives like the ones Subway uses rather liberally should be avoided all together. Soy protein concentrate, another leading player in Subway’s “meats”, for example, can create hormone imbalance, among other issues. Some of their additives may not exactly be deadly, but why would you consume protein with so many fillers if you can help it?

For now, realize that you don’t have to limit yourself to free range, organic, hand-fed and well-loved meat. You do want, however, to see only a few ingredients in your proteins: ideally meat, and as little after that as possible. High-quality protein is crucial for maintaining a healthy weight, having higher energy and generally fueling your body. Don’t settle for sodium injections, corn syrup solids or soy protein concentrate.

We give Subway’s options overall a resounding F. Sorry, Subway. Your food is tasty and we appreciate the gift card, but absolutely cannot recommend it to anyone.

We know cooking is underway at your house. If hoards of loved ones haven’t arrived yet, they’re on their way. Or maybe you’re getting ready to pack up your contributions to today’s feast and are looking forward to a day with friends or family. Either way, Thanksgiving is a time to focus on what we’re grateful for, to enjoy the conversation and company of those around us. Amidst the craziness and joy today, find time to pause and take in the moment. In a way life is short, and times like these are worth cherishing.

Whether you’re cooking today or mom’s doing it again this year, we would like to offer a suggestion: Tina’s Pumpkin Coconut Soup with Toasted Pears. It’s an unconventional choice, but undeniably festive with its myriad fall flavors. The pumpkin is sweet, the coconut adds a light and surprising flavor, and the holiday season is represented by its hint of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. You know us, though; it’s healthy to boot. We wouldn’t recommend anything that wasn’t packed with nutrients, fiber and antioxidants, and this soup is no exception.

Try this sweet and rich soup throughout this holiday season. It’s sure to keep you in a cozy mood and please your taste buds all the while.

We had an absolutely overwhelming response from our clients on that last post about Panera. Making food at home is always the best option, but everyone needs a break now and then. Our clients do a wonderful job of staying disciplined and keeping their eyes on the prize, and we know they deserve a reward. How long can one shy away from the office deciding to order out together? or avoid going to dinner with friends for fear of breaking the rules?

Well, next time you have a say in where to go, we recommend Sticks Kebob Shop. For you Richmonders, there’s one right in Willow Lawn. Feast your eyes on this scrumptious delight:

These are the two Tina would highlight at Sticks. They are delicious and even more delicious together. Sticks makes a tasty little side of cucumbers, tomatoes and other delights, and we think that rounds out the meal pretty well.

Grilled veggies and meats seem the obvious choice for healthy options, but the savvy restaurant-goer has to be careful. We were surprised, once we really started researching, at how many dishes are wayyyy too high in carbohydrates, overall calories and sodium (good grief, so much sodium). With this combo, though, Tina found she could get the protein she needed at lunch time as well as our old friend low glycemic index carbs through the veggies. The extra fiber doesn’t hurt, either. What Tina really enjoys here, though, is the healthy fat that is included without the heavy cost of loads and loads of sodium. Total sodium for these two together is 175 mg. Sticks has a shrimp platter which looks awful tempting (Stephanie was this close to ordering that), but with 1,270 mg of sodium it’s not quite worth it at half of your sodium need for the day.

Tina’s only complaint is that the fiber could be a little higher. 3 grams isn’t so bad, but she will have to make sure to include 22 grams more during the day so meet the daily recommendation of 25.

If you’re in Richmond, Charlottesville or Williamsburg, check this place out. At Willow Lawn the staff is exceedingly friendly, willing to offer suggestions about their favorite items and preparing meals quickly. Before you go, take a glance at their nutrition information, and try to make sure your selection matches those of these two kebobs in protein, carbs, and sodium. They also offer a little side salad to enjoy with your kebob choices, which Tina gives a thumbs-up.

The Mixed Garden Vegetables with Basil Oil kebob and the Chicken Breast with Fresh Herbs kebob get an A-. They may be no Power Chicken Hummus Bowl, but as far as we’re concerned, still a great option. Enjoy!

About ten years ago Tina started a detox with a colleague who practices Chinese Medicine. Combining his expertise with Tina’s in Functional Medicine, the program was referred to as an “East Meets West” sort of philosophy. Chinese medicine teaches that warmer foods are better to have in the morning in order to avoid shocking the system with something like cold cereal or yogurt; Functional Medicine celebrates the health benefits of gluten free oats, millet, buckwheat and amaranth, which are full of fiber, nutrients and protein, all with a lower glycemic index. So here we are with a perfect East-meets-West breakfast that satisfies both philosophies, and will start your day right on a chilly fall morning.

Tina’s tip: top this oatmeal with walnuts for a boost of good fat and protein… not to mention a satisfying crunch.

Today Tina has for you, dear reader, a tasty way to sneak some veggies into your day. We all love smoothies. Not all of us love vegetables. It can certainly seem daunting to eat the recommended amount of servings of something you don’t particularly enjoy. Here’s what Tina writes about this challenge:

“As a Registered Dietitian I see plenty of people who really have a difficult time eating vegetables. I also see people who love smoothies and will add kale or spinach to their drink to increase the phytonutrient value. I’m a big believer in making sure that a person eats at least 4 cups of raw or 2 cups of cooked vegetables a day. The antioxidant nutrients that are available in the vegetables as well as the vitamins and minerals will help not only your energy cycle run more smoothly, but also help with detoxification of toxins in your body. In this smoothie I have added GreensFirst greens, which is a fantastic product that is loaded with spinach, kale, kelp, broccoli sprouts and many more vegetables and fruits and super foods.”